Cool Water

Davidoff launched Cool Water in 1988, for men. Pierre Bourdon composed the formula; the encyclopedia Perfume Intelligence specifies that he created it for the Takasago company, in association with Lancaster Group.

Now produced under license by Coty, it remains for the house the fragrance that began the saga of new olfactory freshness: a sensual alchemy between a man and the ocean, with a freshness that has transcended time since 1988.

A fragrance that stood apart

In December 1993, an article on men’s fragrances in the Detroit Jewish News cited Lancaster Group USA, maker of this bestseller, which presented it as the first men’s fragrance with white floral notes.

New York publisher John Ledes saw it as an unusual scent, a real departure; no men’s fragrance, he added, ventures very far except in its marketing, which, according to the paper, mostly seeks to evoke the outdoors and sports.

The manifesto of new freshness

In April 2025, Coty devoted a documentary to the perfumer, Pierre Bourdon, Gentleman Perfumer, directed by the Luxe unit of the agency 180 Global. According to Coty, Bourdon recounts in it for the first time the creation of Cool Water, through his memories, his archives and his cabinet of curiosities.

Coty presents Cool Water in it as the manifesto of the new freshness movement: a minimalist composition, bold overdoses, waiting lists at fragrance counters and record sales in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

A lineage

Cool Water Woman came out in 1996, also signed by Bourdon according to Perfume Intelligence. Alongside the eau de toilette, the house now offers Cool Water Intense, Cool Water Parfum, Cool Water Reborn and the Cool Elixir line.